Wednesday, April 12, 2017

To The End of Strathcona Sound

The white line is the planned route.

I woke up on the morning of April 10 with a plan in
mind. Spring Break was in full swing and
I wanted to use as much time as I could to explore the land around me. But
where to go? There are lots of places to
visit & explore around Arctic Bay and beyond.

Last
year, I investigated a well-known & travelled route to Pond Inlet that many
locals call a shortcut, but large rocks prevented me from driving really far
inland. Using Google Earth as a research
tool, I noticed that Strathcona Sound ended at a river bed to the east, but the
river continued south for a kilometre or two, before coming to a stop at a
group of mountains. Google Earth gave
the impression that there was a narrow pathway through the mountains. The images made me think it was possible to
get to the well-travelled Pond Inlet shortcut by driving south from Strathcona
Sound. There was only one way to find
out.

It
took me about an hour to get ready for my day trip. I always aim to be ready to go out on the
land in an hour. I’ve gone out enough
times to be able to gather everything I need without making a list. My essentials were:

·GPS, SPOT Device,
& extra batteries

·12 gauge shotgun,
ammunition, & machete

·Binoculars

·Digital Camera

·Toilet Paper &
Kleenex

·10 gallons of gas,
oil, & spark plugs

·Towing cable

·Snacks

·Plastic bags,
Rubber bands, Duct tape

·Small First Aid
Kit, whistle, and mirror

·Facemask, warm
toque

·Canada Goose
clothing (parka, snow pants, gloves)

·Baffin Impact
Boots

I
notified my coworkers where I was heading for the day and even sent them a
picture of my travel map. They wished me
good luck.

I
emerged from my residence with a look of concern. Overcast clouds were in the sky and there was
a little wind. A part of me thought
about postponing the trip but I decided to push onward. Maybe the sun would emerge in the
afternoon. I went inside and brought out
my skidoo helmet. I attached two red
five-gallon gas cans to the back of my skidoo using bungee cords. I locked the door to my apartment after doing
my final checks. I turned on the skidoo
and let the engine warm up. With my
helmet securely on, I put my backpack on my shoulders and slung my shotgun
across the front of my jacket. It was
time to go.

Graveyard Point

I
drove north along the road to Victor Bay.
I didn’t see anyone when I arrived at the cabins. I continued down to the frozen bay and drove
onto the ice. I began driving across the
bay towards Graveyard Point. There were
a lot of bumps; I had to drive slowly.
My skidoo is a two-stroke machine; the engine is loud. My mind did a good job of trying to ignore
the constant droning noise. I was pretty
close to Graveyard Point when I looked back and noticed one of my gas cans was
hanging off the back. I stopped and reattached
the can. I had no intention of losing
precious gas.

Graveyard Point

Nanisivik Naval Facility

I
rounded Graveyard Point and stopped to take several pictures. The sun was barely visible through the
clouds. The white overcast clouds above
made it difficult for me to see a skidoo trail in the white snow. I left Victor Bay and entered Strathcona
Sound, driving east towards the Nanisivik Naval Facility. There were still plenty of bumps on the ice,
so I kept my speed below 50km/h. I
periodically checked behind me to make sure my gas cans were still
attached. The Nanisivik Naval Facility
slowly appeared in the distance. When I
got closer, I stopped and took several pictures. I halted opposite of the dock and turned off
the engine. It was time for a
break. It took me thirty minutes to
drive from Graveyard Point to Nanisivik.

Nanisivik Naval Facility

Barracks

The
last time I visited the naval facility was in March 2016. One year later and the compound is closer to
being operational. The most obvious
additions are the two large gas silos, designed to hold precious fuel for the
Arctic Patrol boats that will be patrolling our Canadian arctic waters. (The boats are currently under construction
in Halifax, Nova Scotia). Other smaller
additions include shacks, sea containers, pipes, and two large white tanks.

Looking towards the east.

I
looked towards the east with feelings of excitement and curiosity. Once I left Nanisivik, I would be entering
unexplored territory. I started my
skidoo and gently squeezed the throttle a few times. I nodded to myself after looking at the path
ahead of me. I was on my way.

My
luck began to turn for the better. The
ice smoothed out, enabling me to drive faster, and the sun appeared through the
clouds, making it easier to see the conditions of the ice ahead of me. After some time, I periodically stopped my
skidoo to take pictures of the tall, rocky mountains on both sides of Strathcona
Sound. Their sides are quite steep.

Hidden valley entrance on the left.

Frozen waterfall

I
passed a valley on my left side. The
valley appeared to extend somewhere to the northeast. I made a mental note to explore this area at
a later date. I also passed a frozen
waterfall in the middle of a broken-looking mountain. Driving off the ice wasn’t a problem. In fact, I didn’t know I was driving over
solid ground until I checked my GPS. I
stopped about a kilometre inland to stretch my legs and fire two shotgun slugs
in the air. I didn’t want to meet any
polar bears this far away from Arctic Bay.
I followed the riverbeds because they were full of snow. As I neared the point I marked on my map, my
skidoo crossed a large patch of ice. I
was glad I was driving slowly because the machine suddenly did a complete
360-degree spin. The unexpected event
made me wonder if there exists a sport called synchronized skidooing.

Beyond Strathcona Sound. Looking towards the south.

I
reached my final destination and was slightly disappointed. The path to the south I was hoping to find
was not there. What I saw on Google
Earth was actually a plateau with a rocky descending slope. The slope could be traversed with a skidoo
but pulling a qamutik (sled) would be very tricky. If I had more gas, I could have explored the
plateau and see if pulling a qamutik would be feasible. Maybe some other time.

Valley extending north to Strathcona Sound.

I
drove up the side of a mountain to take the ‘perfect’ picture of the valley
extending north, all the way to Strathcona Sound. The sun had disappeared behind grey overcast
clouds but the sudden change did not ruin the photos. The pictures don’t do the scenery
justice. The landscape looks much better
if you’re standing there admiring it with your own eyes. There was also complete silence; I could only
hear my breathing. I rested and ate some
snacks. Another location, this time, 51km east of Arctic Bay, visited and
documented.

Like
all great journeys, they have to come to an end. I refueled my skidoo with gasoline and topped
it with oil. The engine coughed to life
and I made sure everything was packed.
It was time to head home. Little
did I know, the journey home would be an adventure on its own.

Heading back to Strathcona Sound.

I
followed the skidoo path I created earlier towards Strathcona Sound. About halfway, I looked back and noticed I
was missing a gas can. The ‘bumps in the
road’ must have caused the can to become loose.
I turned around and drove back to pick it up. It was easy to spot because the can was
red. I reattached it and continued
driving. I was glad that I recovered the
can because it was full of fuel. The
other five-gallon can was empty.

Strathcona Sound. Looking towards thewest.

I
entered Strathcona Sound and drove towards Nanisivik. I periodically looked back to make sure the
cans would not fall off. Apparently, my
checks weren’t good enough. I was quite
a distance into the Sound when I looked back and again noticed there was only
one red gas can on the back of the skidoo.
I turned the machine to the left 180 degrees and drove back the way I
came. Strangely, I couldn’t see the gas
can. I stopped and took out my large
binoculars. There was no red dot on the
horizon. Not losing hope, I continued
driving, looking in all directions, hoping to spot the can. I’m not sure how much time went by but it was
enough for me to worry about the amount of gas that was left in the
skidoo. If I ran out, I would have to
abandon the machine and walk home. I
decided to call off the search.

A red
dot appeared on the ice as I neared the spot where I made the u-turn. “You can’t be serious,” I said to
myself. The missing gas can was sitting
where I made the u-turn! I stopped and
picked up the mischievous can. I tried
to deduce in my mind how the can could have gone unnoticed until now. The best reason I could come up with was that
the bumps in the ice caused the can to move up and then fall over on the right
side of the skidoo. The bungee cords
still held the can. When I was looking
behind me, I was always looking over my left shoulder. The can must have fallen off when I turned
around, again to the left. I took out
more bungee cords and used them to secure both gas cans.

Nanisivik Naval Facility

The sign post is still at the old town site.

When
I reached Nanisivik, I decided to follow the 32-kilometre road that connects
Nanisivik with Arctic Bay. I did my best
to avoid large patches of stones and pebbles.
Driving over them would damage my skis.
I passed the old town site, t-intersection, and Terry Fox Pass. I mostly drove next to the road, going up and
down snow drifts. I still looked back,
making sure the gas cans were still attached.
When I reached the water pumping station, I drove back onto the frozen
ice and continued towards Arctic Bay.
The drive was arduously slow because the bay was littered with snow
drifts. It was like driving over &
around speed bumps . . . slowly. I was
finally home at 7:30pm.

Terry Fox Pass.

Despite
not finding a passage to the south, I consider my day trip a success. I got out of the house for a day and explored
another corner of Canada’s Arctic. And I
learned a valuable lesson: always keep your gas cans safely secured to your
skidoo!